Metallica: heavy metal not a fit for posh Glastonbury festival

Much of the rancour has surrounded frontman James Hetfield’s proclivity for hunting, with campaigners concerned that such activities run counter to the Peace and Love spirit of the festival.

At time of press 25,379 people had lent their signature to a petition calling for the band to be banned on the grounds that he has a “vile obsession with hunting”.

Whatever one’s views on the morality of hunting the campaign does lack credibility. Are we to ban artists from Glastonbury for any sort of objectionable behaviour and simply have Coldplay perform every year? There was certainly no outcry whatsoever when a host of headliners with nefarious pasts and in some case unabashed criminality were booked to perform.

The average person -- even if vegan -- supports the growth and expansion of a society that by definition does so at the expense of natural land.

What happens to all of those animals? A: they die. As do all future generations in that area.

If I had one wish for humanity, it would be less use of space. This cannot be achieved by putting everyone in apartments, because they will still need farmland, roads, hospitals, schools, shopping malls, doctor's offices, irrigation clinics, parking lots, bars and restaurants, libraries and public toilets.

The posh/non-posh thing seems to have more to do with who's "in" the little elite media club and who's not. Mostly corporate stooges probably. But metal has always hated poseurs, and people who rage about hunting while happily signing the next bill to shift 300,000 acres of green belt into condominiums are total hypocrite poseurs.